Mission: Impossible to Protect (The Impossible Mission Romantic Suspense Series Book 6)

by Jacki Delecki

  “What the hell, Reeves? That is creepy shit. Danni would castrate you if she knew.”

  “She knows. After Jordan, Sophie, and Danni were kidnapped, they all agreed with the safety net. It was a compromise. Their father wanted Jordan and Sophie to have a tracking device planted intradermally. I thought it might come down to bloodshed. The sisters refused, and Danni backed them up. They’re fearsome when they unite against their father, one of the most powerful men on the planet. Dean finally gave up, admitting that his fear over the kidnapping had left him paranoid.”

  “I had no idea. And Danni was part of this?”

  “Danni was never considered for the intradermal implant. Just Jordan and Sophie because of their risk of being kidnapped for ransom as Richard Dean’s daughters. After the kidnapping, Danni was traumatized and agreed also to have her phone tracked. I think she didn’t object since she and I are such close friends.”

  “Well, this makes my assignment to track her easier for tomorrow’s adventure.”

  “Of course, I’ve made some cool changes to the function… But you don’t want to hear about it because you’re too busy to listen.”

  “Everything okay, man?”

  “I’m fine. But there is”—Reeves paused—“something else.”

  “Go ahead.”

  “The T-shirt and Sports Emporium is in Santee Alley.”

  “Where all the Mexican drug cartels launder their money?” Lars’s fist tightened on his phone.

  “You know?”

  “When we’re stationed in CA, we get regular updates about the cartel’s activities.”

  “I don’t know how there can be a connection between money laundering and a stalker, but it makes me nervous.”

  “Can you check the financials of this company?” Lars didn’t think there could be a connection, but his work taught him always to be prepared.

  “I’m already on it. I’ll let you know if I find anything…and then you can be the one to talk to Danni about not going.”

  “Real funny, Reeves.”

  Chapter Five

  Too much champagne, too much sushi, too much of the mighty fine Lars Jenkins. OMG.

  Danni woke cranky and hungover.

  The stress of pretending to be involved with Alex as Sophie and Lars looked on had pushed her to gulp the bubbly all night long. Not being able to tell Sophie the truth, and then having Lars nearby, had made for one dandy night that she never wanted to relive.

  She almost confessed to Sophie this morning. It was good that Sophie was in a rush to get back to Seattle for an event that her foundation was hosting, or Danni, in her weakened state, would have coughed up the truth.

  Danni wasn’t used to holding back feelings from her girlfriends. Sisterhood got her through her cheating ex and the trauma after the kidnapping. But if she told Sophie, Sophie would tell Finn, and then Finn would alert all the Jenkinses. The alpha males would rush in, making it clear that she was in over her head. They all would be in her business, never giving her a chance to succeed.

  And if Lars knew the truth, she didn’t want to think of the endless jokes and then the protective, condescending attitude he’d take with her, like his brothers. Or possibly he would push harder to get close, and she wasn’t sure how long she could keep resisting. As a woman who prided herself on self-discipline, she had no control when it came to Lars Jenkins.

  He had a way of looking at her as if she were the X17 particle that would explain the mystery of dark matter. His singular focus drew her to him. No one ever looked at her with intense curiosity. Men only saw her as a leggy blonde with the body of a model. And nothing else.

  As a researcher obsessed with solving the unsolvable, she was intensely drawn to being considered a mystery. But she knew in her heart that once Lars figured her out—saw that she wasn’t different than any other woman who wanted to be loved and cherished—he’d be on to the next woman. Right now, he was enjoying the chase.

  Her phone pinged. Reeves had an uncanny ability to call her right when she needed her friend.

  “What the hell, Reeves? You sent a Jenkins with Sophie?”

  She pulled her ear away from her phone since Reeves was laughing so loud it hurt. “The Jenkins brothers are Sophie’s security. And I thought you’d be thanking me, not hassling me for the surprise trip from Sophie.”

  What was up with Reeves? He almost sounded hurt.

  “Okay. That was sweet. Thank you.” Danni didn’t add how stressful it was to withhold the truth from Sophie.

  “So, you and Lars are good now?”

  Danni didn’t know whether to laugh or scream. Now she had to lie to Reeves.

  “Lars and I are copacetic.” She didn’t add that Lars never smiled or teased her when they were with Alex. Or how she missed his baiting and his infectious grin.

  “Lars seems happy for me that I’m with a nice guy.” And I have a bridge for sale.

  “Glad to hear it.”

  What was with Reeves? He was always solicitous and protective of her.

  “I tracked where the T-shirt was ordered. The T-Shirt and Sports Emporium is in a really rough area of LA. You should take Lars with you.”

  “You’re kidding. There is no way in hell that I’m taking Lars. You didn’t tell him that I’m Alex’s bodyguard, did you?”

  “You don’t know what Alex might be involved in. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  Shivers raced down Danni’s arms. Reeves knew her really well. He got her need to prove her independence after creating a whole life around a cheating, lying douchebag who didn’t have the integrity to face her at the church.

  “What neighborhood?”

  “It’s in the heart of Santee Alley.”

  “Oh, my God. That’s great. I love shopping there. Now I wish Sophie hadn’t left. She and I can spend hours wandering the streets and shopping wholesale. How do you think I can afford designer label clothes?”

  “You know it borders on a really rough section of LA.”

  “Reeves, you’re starting to sound a bit paternalistic.”

  “Dammit, Sophie. Santee Alley is where the drug cartels launder their money.”

  “I know. I’ve read all about it. But I’m visiting a T-shirt store like the other thousands of shoppers. Nothing else. Nothing to do with the cartels.”

  “You’re probably right, but I just don’t want you in danger. Promise me you’ll be careful even though you’ll have Alex and his security with you.”

  Danni decided she would keep to herself that she planned to go alone. Alex would cause a scene once his fans recognized him. And he’d be accompanied by Frank, whom she didn’t trust after seeing him in Alex’s dressing room.

  “You have anything on Frank yet?” It was always good to distract Reeves when he started to worry.

  “Still trying to track his financials. I’ll let you know when I get something. Promise, Danni, that you’ll be careful.”

  “I promise.” She was becoming adept at lies of omission. She didn’t want Reeves to worry about her, but she knew Santee Alley really well. She had spent endless hours there looking for bargains. Nothing could possibly happen.

  Chapter Six

  With his LA Lakers cap pulled down and his aviator sunglasses on, Lars waited behind a swiveling rack of sunglasses at the entrance to Santee Alley. If Danni and Alex didn’t arrive soon, he’d have to change his position since the owner was growing suspicious.

  Lars stepped farther behind the kiosk to get a better angle on the street. By Danni’s GPS, they’d arrive in less than a minute.

  A black Prius stopped at the corner. Lars glanced down at his phone. Her GPS had stopped. If he hadn’t recognized the long, slender legs that came out first, he wouldn’t have known it was Danni. She was in a black wig and a leather BSDM getup that delivered a sucker punch to his gut.

  What the hell? She was dressed as the star of a bondage porn flick. Why was she alone? Where was Hardy and his security?

  Reeves rep
orted that she would be with Hardy. And Lars assumed Hardy would have at least Frank, the muscle, to handle this crowd. Lars’s instincts kicked into high gear. Danni was up to nothing good.

  She bent over to talk to the driver, giving Lars a stellar view as her red plaid skirt rode up almost to her panties. All his blood flowed south. He couldn’t look away as fantasies bombarded his testosterone-overwhelmed brain.

  She wobbled as she stepped over the curb in high-heeled boots that laced up past her knees. Was she still hungover after two-fisting the bubbly? She’d never wobbled all the times he had seen her in ridiculously sexy footgear. Danni in her knee-high boots fed some of his favorite fantasies.

  He imagined Danni in the tiny skirt with her legs stretched across his lap as he slowly untied the boots. Every cell pulsated with lust. Heat flamed through him. He was burning up, and it wasn’t due to the warm LA day or the long-sleeved shirt he wore to cover his concealed weapon. He had to pull his shit together. He was in the middle of LA with a conspicuous hard-on.

  Danni went headlong into the crush of shoppers. He waited a few seconds before joining. She was easy to track with her three-inch boots adding to her already almost six-foot height. She was a lot of woman but nothing he couldn’t handle. And fantasies flashed again of how exactly he wanted to handle Danni.

  He followed her as she pushed and shoved. He had tracked a lot of people in his career, but this was his most erotic pursuit. Not the blazing heat, the crazy shoppers, nor the throbbing in his leg fazed him. Chasing after Danni on her wild-ass adventure fed his soul. It would never be boring with this woman.

  He forced his way closer when it looked like she stumbled. She righted herself and turned quickly to find the culprit. Lars dashed into a lingerie store to avoid being discovered. Danni was sharp and most likely would recognize him despite the cap and sunglasses. A few of the women stopped their rummaging through the racks to stare at his clumsy entrance.

  He had to suppress his laugh as he watched Danni from the window. The look Danni gave the tiny woman who had shoved her was the same death stare she leveled at him regularly and had the same effect on the unfazed shopper that it had on him. Growing up with four older brothers where fists flew every hour, dirty looks were not a deterrent but a signal to bring it on. She might not know it, but her stares were part of their mating dance. And he was ready to get to the mating.

  He searched the crowd for any threat before he again joined the flow of sales-driven humanity. Danni, a woman on a mission, marched ahead. Her tenacity was one of the many things he admired about her.

  He glanced down so as not to ram into the couple with a toddler who had stopped abruptly in front of him to adjust the baby’s hat. When he looked up, Danni had disappeared. He searched the crowd and couldn’t see her black wig. He moved swiftly to find her. She couldn’t have gone far in the less than thirty seconds that he’d taken his eyes off of her.

  He turned in a full circle, gaining him deadly looks from the mob of people he blocked. He didn’t see Danni. She had to have gone into one of the two shops on the right side since he would have spotted her moving across the crowd.

  The first store was a health food and nutrition store, and the next was a jewelry store. All bets were on the jewelry store. He slowly ambled by the empty nutrition store. His Columbo had taken a pause in her detecting to shop. Not exactly mission-driven, but this wasn’t a lethal mission.

  He rejoined the wave of shoppers to catch a glimpse of her bent over the counter before he took cover behind the store directory across from the jewelry store.

  Less than five minutes later, she came out admiring the bracelet on her wrist. Mission accomplished. He was impressed with her decisiveness in shopping. Another trait he admired.

  He reentered the throng behind her.

  She quickly turned back. Did she sense him? Within a minute, she ducked into a perfume store. He combed the crowd for possible suspects who had heightened her awareness. No one stood out.

  Was this part of her strategy—to make shopping stops to make sure she wasn’t followed? And who did she think might follow her? And was that why she was in the ridiculously sexy as hell disguise?

  He gave her credit for her forethought, but he couldn’t get past the fact that she came alone to look for an obsessed whack job.

  He purchased a smoothie from the stand across from the perfume store to give him a perfect view of the door. She came out empty-handed. He scanned the crowd again. No one set off his radar.

  She made her way to the end of the alley and crossed the streets to the T-Shirt and Sports Emporium. He had to duck behind another food kiosk since she did a quick turnaround at the crosswalk. She was dogged and smart.

  She searched the store’s window before entering. Now that she was in the store, he was able to get into position behind a parked tour bus across from the entrance.

  He couldn’t see into the window since the displays hampered the view. He checked his phone. He’d give her five minutes, and then he’d have to decide a course of action. The risks to her while in the shop were low, and he had a perfect sight line on the door. He’d see everyone who entered and exited the store.

  He had time to call Reeves.

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yes, but she’s alone. I thought she was coming with Hardy.”

  There was an audible intake of breath over the cell. “She let me believe Hardy and his security would be with her. Thank God you’re there.”

  Lars couldn’t pretend to himself that she was in actual danger and needed his skills guarding her. He just wanted to be close to her, and he used Reeves’s worry as an excuse.

  “Why is she dressed in a BDSM outfit?”

  The image of Danni bending over the car flashed in neon-bright light across his brain as his heated blood thrummed through him.

  “What?” A usually verbose Reeves was awful quiet.

  “I’ve never seen her in anything like this outfit. She has her hair covered in a black wig and hat, and I swear she has a nose piercing since I saw her last night.”

  “She didn’t say a word. Why would she need to be in disguise? Do you think there’s been some sort of threat against Danni that she needed a disguise?”

  “She’s acting pretty paranoid as if she thinks someone might be following her. The only person who potentially may be following her would be the woman who’s obsessed with Hardy. She didn’t tell you anything?”

  “Nothing.”

  One word answers from Reeves were disturbing. “You don’t have to worry. I can see if anyone goes into the store.” Lars’s skin prickled with a heightened sense of caution. Was he allowing Reeves’s anxiety to get to him? “She’s not in danger, but I’ll go into the store in five if she’s not out. And look, man, I’m going to have to tell her that you gave me the info about what she was up to.”

  “I don’t care. She lied to me by omission. I’m mad too.”

  The store door flew open as Danni ran out.

  “What the hell?”

  Chapter Seven

  Danni climbed out of the shared car at the entrance to Santee Alley. Her crappy mood began to lighten with the prospect of shopping. Nothing like a bit of retail therapy to ease the pain of Sophie’s departure. Her mood had nothing to do with the fact that Lars hadn’t tried to see her last night or this morning despite the blaring fact that she had been clear that she didn’t want him to. She had dodged a bullet and needed to celebrate her singledom. Once she was done with crime-fighting, she’d do serious damage to her credit card.

  She stared down the long alley brimming with crowds of shoppers enjoying the Sunday sunshine and the prospect of hunting down a deal. Danni usually liked to arrive early since the alley was always jammed on the weekends when the designers put their clothes at wholesale prices.

  The T-shirt store wasn’t in the actual alley but across two streets at the south end of the street. The T-Shirt and Sports Emporium was one of the shops on the edge of the alley that paid less th
an prime retail price. Wishing she could avoid the people-to-people throng, she wouldn’t take the circuitous street route even without Reeves’s warning. She already knew not to walk alone on the surrounding streets among the drug dealers and homeless encampments.

  Without warning, someone slammed Danni from behind. She tottered on her high platform boots, able to right herself before doing a header. She spun to see what asshole felt it was necessary to push. The perpetrator was a gray-haired woman half Danni’s size. The woman plowed past, oblivious of Danni’s “don’t mess with me” stare.

  Danni had made the right decision to spare Alex this chaos. He’d be immediately recognized and barraged with fans wanting to take selfies with him. His security would be a nightmare. Chills ran down her spine despite the LA sun baking her in the leather Goth costume. Was it possible that the stalker wanted to draw Alex out into public by taunting him with the T-shirt?

  Paranoid much? Only someone with Reeves’s skills could have found the link between the T-shirt and the store.

  Danni plowed her way forward, murmuring half-hearted apologies, her excitement rapidly fading. After twenty minutes of body pressing with strangers, she was hot and frustrated. The smell of hot dogs and onions from the sidewalk stands wasn’t helping her already iffy stomach.

  Right when she was considering an escape to a side street, she spotted Armature’s storefront. A little bling was exactly what the doctor ordered to boost her mood. A silver cuff would complete her Goth disguise, which consisted of a black leather bustier and jacket and a short, red, plaid skirt with a black belt and knee-high boots.

  She loved this line of jewelry, and the inexpensive but hip style fit her mode as a rock star’s girlfriend or a Goth. She had abandoned her nerdy scientist look the day Jax had left her for a nineteen-year-old model. She refused to give the bastard another thought. She had moved on spectacularly. Was she petty that she hoped Jax saw the tabloid pictures of Danni in the arms of Alex Hardy?